TMO's chair has 'no justification' for remarks

With reference to the article in last week's issue "Chair: It's time for TMO to move on", Ms Juliet Rawlings, (chair of the RBK&C TMO) appears to have no explanation of where the TMO and the previous board went wrong to justify her remarks about 'a new start' and that 'it's time to move on', except to blame the old constitution.

WITH reference to the article in last week's issue "Chair: It's time for TMO to move on", Ms Juliet Rawlings, (chair of the RBK&C TMO) appears to have no explanation of where the TMO and the previous board went wrong to justify her remarks about 'a new start' and that 'it's time to move on', except to blame the old constitution.

Many residents will think she is being disingenuous.

Blaming the old constitution is a red herring - the TMO didn't show any interest in changing it until members used it to try and hold TMO responsible for their actions.

The changes to the constitution that the TMO championed will now make it extremely difficult for members to hold it to account, resulting in the TMO and its board becoming even more untouchable.

The council didn't appoint an independent adjudicator, at public expense, because of the old constitution.

The adjudicator was appointed to deal with long-standing grievances that the TMO and the old board failed to resolve (despite numerous opportunities/requests) and the general failure of it to deliver the services residents pay for.

At the recent TMO AGM, the chair was asked what business plan she had formulated/put in place to deal with the adjudicator's eventual report.

Her pithy response was that the TMO would "look, listen and learn" (which, to me, sounds more like the Green Cross Code than a business plan!).

When asked for further detail, she merely repeated herself. The TMO and the old TMO board appear to be evading any responsibility for failing tenants and leaseholders on a long-term basis.

I'm sure every tenant and leaseholder in the borough has horror stories of inadequate and unacceptable cleaning, gardening and management, never mind the TMO's inability to communicate effectively or plan efficiently.